I begin this painting by painting the sky using a wet-in-wet technique. I duplicate the same colors in the river below, and while both are drying lay in the yellow-golds of the Autumn Cottonwoods in the distance.

Notice how quickly I start to shape the elements working from broad loose passages of lighter pigments to darker values as the painting progresses. It is hard to tell here because everything is so light, but I am preserving some lights in very special areas.